Overcoming the Comparison Trap of 1L

/ Ian Hurley / Leave a comment

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.” – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

It was the night before my first final as a 1L, and I was starting to feel overwhelmed. I knew, in a sort of intangible way, that an entire semester’s worth of work would come down to one test. And I could not help but be aware of the fact that this would prove stressful; everyone I knew who went to law school told me as much, as did most of my current peers. I suppose it’s also self-evident when you see the syllabus and read the words “your entire course grade will rest on the final examination” that you will have to perform on the day or pay the price.

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The Curious Email From Social Security

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

A July 4 email from the Social Security Administration claimed that Congress had eliminated federal income taxes on Social Security benefits, when it had not

This post has been republished from Professor Patricia McCoy’s Substack. Her new book, “Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-Being for All,” is available from The University of California Press.

During last year’s presidential race, President Trump declared: “Seniors should not pay taxes on Social Security and they won’t,” according to CBS News. This promise to end income taxes on Social Security benefits was the single most popular economic proposal of either candidate, according to an ABC News/Ipsos Poll conducted about a month before the election. In fact, voters were so enthralled with his idea that 85% of people polled approved.

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How to Cut Health Benefits and Dis a Majority of Voters in the Process

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

New Medicaid red tape and the loss of expanded Obamacare subsidies stand to hurt 93 million households

This post has been republished from Professor Patricia McCoy’s Substack. Her new book, “Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-Being for All,” is available from The University of California Press.

In 2033, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance In H.R. 1, passed on July 4, Congress saddled Medicaid participants with new red tape, while allowing expanded subsidies for Obamacare premiums to lapse at the end of this year. When those changes take effect, they will affect all Medicaid participants (71 million at last count) and 92% of Obamacare policyholders (another 22 million). Together, this is far more than half of the number of people who voted in the latest Presidential election and suggests that the Republican majority in Congress will alienate voters.

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Surprise! USF Decision Signals Admin Law Revolution, But Not the One We Expected

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

Late last month, the Supreme Court decided FCC v. Consumers Research. Although an undercard among the Court’s last-day decisions, the case was closely watched in administrative law circles as a potential vehicle for revitalizing the moribund Nondelegation Doctrine. But as predicted after oral argument, the Court found this was not the right case to do so. The big surprise was Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence, which likely killed future efforts to reform nondelegation, but also signaled big news ahead for the law governing independent agencies.

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Holy Selfishness & The Gift-Giving Virtue: A Cycle of Overcoming

/ Staniel Brutis / Leave a comment

“All wish to possess great knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.”
– Juvenal

  1. HOLY SELFISHNESS

In this article, I offer a perspective aimed at advancing the individual student while uplifting the collective student body. I accomplish this by advocating for the simple act of sharing knowledge. The principles used within this article derive from Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

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My Summer at Legal Aid: Issue Spotting and Research

/ Samantha Torre / Leave a comment

This summer, I’m interning at the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, a nonprofit organization that seeks to assist San Diego County residents and provide free legal representation, advice, and information. As the right to an attorney does not exist in legal cases, many litigants have to navigate complicated processes and forms, which can make it much more difficult for them to achieve their desired result in a case than parties with an attorney. The LASSD seeks to bridge that gap. The goal of the self-help clinics is not to provide representation, but to make the civil legal system more accessible for litigants.

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What Would Social Security’s Insolvency Do to Old-Age Benefits?

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Social Security benefits would not drop to $0, but they would be cut by 23 percent unless Congress acts

This post has been republished from Professor Patricia McCoy’s Substack. Her new book, “Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-Being for All,” is available from The University of California Press.

In 2033, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund will run out of money to pay old-age Social Security benefits. At that point, tax revenues will still be enough to pay 77 percent of monthly checks. But there will be a substantial benefits cut unless Congress takes action. If and when Congress sees fit to act, it will have to choose between higher payroll taxes on the top 6 percent or reforms that make lower-income retirees substantially worse off.

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How does a New Yorker become a Bostonian? A Five-Step Process Breakdown

/ Catherine Beveridge / Leave a comment

With all the changes I have been through this past year, I did not think Boston becoming my favorite city would happen this year. While I grew up in New York through my childhood, NYC did not resonate as much with me as it does for some natives. Philadelphia was fun during my undergraduate years, but my city exploration was minimized due to the pandemic. Washington D.C. was a nice experiment, but the humidity pushed my northern soul well past my limits. I am happy to say Boston lived up to my hopes and exceeded them.

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Curtailing Need-Based Scholarships for College in the Land of Opportunity

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What the proposed cutbacks to Pell Grants would mean

This post has been republished from Professor Patricia McCoy’s Substack. Her new book, “Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-Being for All,” is available from The University of California Press.

In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the House of Representatives voted to cut college scholarships for students from lower-income families. Other provisions in the bill would scale back health insurance benefits and food assistance for many of those same households. The fact that these reductions would pay for tax cuts for the wealthy has not been lost on Americans with opinions on the bill, who oppose it 2 to 1.

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Is the Proposed Hike to the Child Tax Credit What It’s Cracked Up to Be?

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

This post has been republished from Professor Patricia McCoy’s Substack. Her new book, “Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-Being for All,” is available from The University of California Press.

In my last two columns, I blasted the House of Representatives for voting to throw millions of people off of health insurance in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is now pending in the Senate. As it is, half of American households live on less than a living wage, as I discuss in my new book Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-being for All. And that’s with layers of social safety nets, ranging from subsidized health insurance and Food Stamps to student loan protections. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act would unravel these safety nets all at once, even though millions of working families depend on them to make ends meet.

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